Abdul Ghani v Subedar Shoedar Khan

JurisdictionPakistán
Date29 April 1964
CourtObsolete Court (Pakistan)
Pakistan, High Court of West Pakistan.

(Ortcheson, S. A. Mahmood and Sajjad Ahmed JJ.)

Abdul Ghani and Another
and
Subedar Shoedar Khan and Others.

Jurisdiction Extraterritorial Whether prior to Indian Independence Act, 1947, Governor-General in Council possessed jurisdiction in respect of Territory beyond limits of British India Whether Regulations formerly applicable in that Territory were still in force after partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947 The law of Pakistan.

State succession Continuity of the law Regulations applicable in Tribal Areas in India Whether prior to Indian Independence Act, 1947, Governor-General in Council possessed jurisdiction in respect of territory beyond limits of British India Partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947 Territory not at first included within boundaries of Pakistan Whether Regulations formerly applicable in that territory were still in force after partition of sub-continent The law of Pakistan.

The Facts.The petitioners in the present proceedings were challenging the legality of certain summonses issued against them. In 22 of the petitions (for which Petition No. 563 was taken as typical) residents of certain Tribal Areas in Waziristan, being creditors of the petitioner who was resident outside those areas, initiated proceedings against him. Consequently, summonses against the latter were issued by the Assistant Political Officer and the Additional District Magistrate (referred to as the Issuing Officer) acting under Section 8 of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (III of 1901), requiring him to appear before the Issuing Officer's Court. In the case of Petition No. 725, a complaint under Section 420 of the Pakistan Criminal Code was presented in the Court of the Political Agent of the Kurram Agency (Tribal Areas), at Para Chinar, by Haji Dost Muhammad, arising out of the purchase of goods from him by Malik Meraj Din (the petitioner) who resided outside the Political Agent's area. The Political Agent issued a summons requiring Malik Meraj Din and other persons acting for him to appear before him.

The petitioners claimed that the Issuing Officer (the Political Agent in Petition No. 725) had no jurisdiction to issue summonses to persons residing outside his area, and that also on other grounds connected with the operation of the Regulation the summonses were bad. More generally, the validity of the Frontier Crimes Regulation as applied to North and South Waziristan was also challenged on the ground that as from the creation of the Independent Dominion of Pakistan on August 15, 1947, the laws formerly in force in the Tribal Areas lapsed since on that date the territories of Pakistan did not include the Tribal Areas. It was further contended that the areas in question did not become a part of Pakistan on any later date. Alternatively, it was urged that if they were later included the Regulation could only have been made applicable to them by a notification issued by the Governor-General under section 95A of the Government of India Act, 1935, inserted by Governor-General's Order No. 6 of 1949. Reliance was also placed on section 7 (1) (b) of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, under which the suzerainty of His Majesty over the Indian States lapsed and with it all treaties and agreements in force at the date of the passing of the said Act between His Majesty and the Rulers of the Indian States, all functions exercised by His Majesty at that date with respect to Indian States, all obligations of His Majesty existing at that date towards Indian States or the rulers thereof, and all powers, rights, authority or jurisdiction exercisable by His Majesty at that date in or in relation to Indian States by treaty, grant, usage, sufferance or otherwise.

Held: that the petitions must be dismissed. As to the argument based on the consequences of partition of the Indian sub-continent, the...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT